Just over the horizon

Today's card from the Anna K Tarot (Llewellyn 2013) is the Death card. He is an appealing chap, with his slinky black garment draped around his hips, abs looking all chiseled, his black hair scraggling down over his shoulders in an Aragorn/Daniel Day-Lewis in 'Last of the Mohicans'/Daryl from 'Walking Dead' kind of way. Big ebony wings gleaming behind him, his scythe resting on the ground, he beckons for us with his free hand. The path leads straight to the horizon, no turning to either side, certainly no turning back. You feel compelled to take his hand and continue on the path with him. He is a welcoming and gentle Death.

I'm not one of those readers who will tell you that Death never means a death. Because literal death is an inevitable part of our life experience, there's no reason to believe that it wouldn't be represented in tarot. However, there would have to be significant reasons indicated in surrounding cards before I would see literal death in the Death card. And I would be sure to emphasize that my seeing a literal death is not a prediction but an intuitive flash, not something definite. This because I don't believe that tarot foretells specific events, but rather, gives shadows of overall patterns, which are (mostly) conditional upon one's actions and upon one's beliefs about the situation.

 For the most part, though, Death is the step that leads to transformation. Now here's another area where I differ with some readers. Death itself is not transformation. Transformation is what happens AFTER the Death card. The Death card represents the end of something, which has to occur before the transformation into something new can happen. Death is change, endings, and it's hardly ever comfortable or easy. People say there's no such thing as a dignified death, and of course in many ways that's true. Physical death is undignified. Humiliating things happen to our bodies; we have no power over our bodies anymore. At any other time, this would be an embarrassment. So yeah, physical death is undignified, in that sense. It is uncomfortable. It is scary. Similarly, big changes to our lives can make us feel awkward, sometimes not in complete control, sometimes embarrassed or humiliated or just simply scared. But then when we get through that stage, the changes start to manifest, and the ordeal was worth it. That's the experience that is suggested by this appealing and welcoming Death. He will help you on this path to transformation, which is just over the horizon.